If you're a slave to the gas pump, you may not know that Central Florida has more than 300 charging stations for electric vehicles. But a national organization has taken notice and is hoping to use Orlando's tourism economy to expose Americans to the benefits of electric cars.

The result is Drive Electric Orlando, scheduled to launch this afternoon at the Peabody Orlando hotel on International Drive, in the heart of the area's primary tourism corridor. The partnership includes area hotels and theme parks; Enterprise Rent-A-Car; Travelocity parent company Sabre Holdings; and the Washington-based Electrification Coalition, a group that promotes U.S. energy independence through use of electric vehicles.

With 57 million visitors a year, Orlando is a prime location for the project, the coalition said. What better place for introducing Americans to driving electric cars than the nation's top vacation destination and the world's largest rental-car market?

"There's still a ton of misperceptions out there among drivers about these vehicles," said Sam Ori, executive vice president for the Electrification Coalition. The goal in Orlando is to give tourists and business travelers an extended test drive and "turn those people into future buyers."

Though the region's "top-tier" collection of charging stations is a plus, perhaps more important for the coalition's program is that so many of Orlando's visitors who arrive by air follow a typical travel pattern to a tightly clustered series of attractions. From the airport they head to their hotel and then to nearby theme parks or the giant county-run convention center.

In most cases, the distance between any of those destinations is 15 to 20 miles.

"The range on a Nissan Leaf, 100 miles, it's more than most visitors will do in a day," Ori said. "To start, we're making sure that people who are renting the vehicles are at a hotel with a charger."

The Electrification Coalition estimates that having chargers at 40 key hotels and a half-dozen key attractions creates enough of a network for tourists with electric cars to feel comfortable. So far, 27 of the targeted hotels have installed chargers; all three major theme-park resorts have signed on as program sponsors, and the coalition said it is working with them to determine the best locations for chargers.

Should drivers need a charge while on the go, each car will have a GPS unit that can locate the nearest charging station, even if the driver ventures outside the Orlando area. Drivers can also use third-party smartphone apps, such as Plug Share, that point drivers to available chargers in the vicinity.

Among its fleet of about a million vehicles, Enterprise Holdings — which includes the Enterprise, National and Alamo car-rental brands — boasts just a few hundred electric vehicles. The Orlando program will start with 15 Nissan Leaf electric cars, though organizers hope to expand grow the fleet as demand increases. Chevy, which makes the electric Volt, has also signed on as a sponsor.

Enterprise will provide all renters with brief tutorials on how to operate the cars, including where and how to charge them.

"I think there's a significant curiosity around the technology itself," said Nathan Prior, director of business rental sales for Enterprise in Orlando.

Throughout Metro Orlando, electric vehicles can be charged at about 150 locations, which offer more than 300 charging stations combined.

Some participating hotels will even offer free valet parking for the vehicles.

The electric vehicles cost the same as a standard, midlevel rental car. And among the added benefits for the renter: no scramble to top off the gas tank before returning the car.

"We don't charge a premium, nor do we charge a fee if someone does not bring it back with a full charge," Prior said.